Tag Archive | "Matt Ryan"

– Wrong gameplan for the Falcons. Since winning games late has become their trademark, they should’ve kept it close ’til the very end. Falling behind by a ton of points early is not in any of the contingency plans of head coach Mike Smith. He has only one gameplan; keep it close then execute the two-minute drill Matt Ryan and the Falcons’ offense practice every-damn-day.

– History was not on the side of Atlanta. It was only the second time they entered the playoffs as NFC’s top seed. The first time? They were also booted out.

– Atlanta’s suspect defense blew up in their faces against the Packers. All season they protected the ball with short passes and a reliable running game led by Michael Turner. They couldn’t keep Aaron Rodgers off the field. The match-up can be broken into a simple algebraic expression I learned in kindergarten; weak secondary + elite QB = a burned defense needing a ton of ice to stop the fire.

How’d the Packers do it?

– That’s simple and you’ve probably read about it on ESPN or Foxsports. Three words composed of two nouns and an adjective — Aaron freakin’ Rodgers. No need to go over the numbers. He is the hottest quarterback entering the four-team race for the Super Bowl.

– The Packers athletic front four was enough to pressure Ryan all game. They flushed him out the pocket and when he tried to run it Clay Matthews was breathing down his neck.

– James Starks’ numbers weren’t great but the big game he had against the Eagles was enough for Atlanta to bite on play actions. That’s street cred for you.